Cliffs of Moher and Galway

     Dublin is on the east coast of Ireland, and the Cliffs of Moher and the city of Galway are on the west coast.  It takes a little less than three hours to drive from coast to coast.  The weather changed from rain to cloudy and back to rain at least a half dozen times during the trip.  We were lucky that the precipitation stopped long enough to see the cliffs.

This is the Barack Obama Plaza in Moneygall, County Offaly where we stopped for breakfast.  Why would the Irish name a rest stop after a U.S. president?  Back in 2007, when Mr. Obama was campaigning for the presidency, someone at Ancestry.com published an article about the candidate's Irish roots.  President Obama's great-great-great grandfather, Falmouth Kearney, left Moneygall at age 19 and immigrated to the United States.  The motorway needed a rest stop, the area needed more employment opportunities, and the fast food chain Supermacs was willing to invest.  You can read more about this at: http://irishfireside.com/2014/06/09/curious-tale-irish-rest-stop-named-us-president/
Here's the president's Irish side of the family tree:
http://blog.findmypast.co.uk/articles/barack-obamas-irish-family-the-kearneys/   

Hooray!  Clear skies.

A Sheer Drop into the Water

The cattle grazing near the edge of the cliff makes me think of the scene from "Far from the Madding Crowd" when the dog chases the sheep over the edge.  Scarey.

The pavement is made from local stone.  It contains fossils.  The squiggly areas are fossilized animal burrows.

This lucky shamrock must have kept the rains away.

From the cliffs, we went to the city of Galway for shopping and a meal.  We snapped this picture of the work of a sand sculptor - mama pig and her litter.